mobbs



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

v H. W. MOBBS & A. LEWIS.

I BOOT TREE. No. 563,502. Patented July '7, 1896'.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S I W E L A M .S B B 0 M W M M m BOOT TREE.

Patented July 7, 1896 Y d l.) s Sheets-Sheet a. H. W. MOBBS & A. LEWIS.

BOOT TREE.

Patented Jfil 7, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY XV. MOBBS AND ALFRED LEWIS, OF KETTERING, EN GLANl).

BOOT-TREE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 563,502, dated July '7,1896. Application filed July 3, 1895. Serial No. 554,832. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that we, HARRY NVILLIAM MOBBS and ALFRED LEWIS, boot-lastmanufacturers, residing at Kettering, in the county of Northampton,England, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements inTreeing-Machines for Boots and Shoes, of which the following is, aspecification.

In the wholesale manufacture of boots and shoes as a final operation thegoods are brushed and cleaned, expanded, sleeked, polished, and set intoform, and for this purpose they are placed upon wooden trees, which formpart of what is called a treeingmachine.

To suit the great Variety of shapes and sizes of boots and shoes whichhave to be dealt with, the machine must be provided with trees that canbe changed from time to time, as required, to correspond as nearly aspossible with the lasts upon which the boots were made.

The tree in common use consists of three parts, viz: the toe and theheel, which are of wood and can be changed, and a middle part or arm ofmetal to which the toe and heel are attached and which constitutesitself the waist of the foot. This middle part is permanent and cannotbe changed, like the toe and heel, to suit different shapes and sizes'ofboots. It therefore happens frequently that the toe and the heel do notfit the middle part or waist, and there is an unevenness in the contourof the tree-foot, which is a serious disadvantage when the goods arebeing boned or rubbed. To overcome this disadvantage, trees have beenmade with expanding and contracting waists, which are, however, veryexpensive.

According to our invention we arrange the tree-foot in such a mannerthat the arm or support for the toe and heel does not form the waist ofthe foot, but that the waist is formed in the removable toe and heelparts and is variable in width in proper proportion to the said parts,so that the disadvantages incidental to a waist or middle portion ofpermanent dimensions, or to one capable of contraction and expansion,are obviated.

In carrying out our invention we make the tree-foot, so far as itscontour or surface is concerned, of two parts only, the waist being madepreferably in one with the too. The arm or middle supporting-piece isstill retained but it is so reduced in lateral dimensions as to beentirely incased within the toe part before mentioned,which islengthened in a backward direction toward the heel, so as to meet thelatter when the tree is out of ac tion.

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated our invention asapplied to the arm of a treeing-machine.

Figure 1 shows a side View of the arm, with the foot portions removedtherefrom. Fig. 1 is an end view of Fig. 1 seen from the right. Fig. 2is a side view, partly in section, with the foot portions attached.Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are back, side, and top views of the toe portion ofthe foot.

A is the metal arm, to which the toe and heel portions of the last areto be attached.

This arm is hollow and contains the usual spring-encircled rod a, havinga shackle at one end, connected to a treadle or other device for givingit an endwise pull, and at the other end a dovetailed projection a,which works in the inclined grooves b of the detachable heel portion ]3,to move the latter outward and inward to stretch and release the boot'inthe manner well understood.

B is an adjustable spring-catch which holds the heel portion B of thelast, in conjunction with the projection a and grooves 19, to the arm A.

Referring now to the prominent feature of our invention, C is the toepart of the last, which is so formed as to surround entirely and incasethe reduced end A of the supporting metal arm A, (see Fig. 2,) therebymaintaining the even contour of the foot when the size of the last ischanged. The form of the toe part 0 is well shown at Figs. 3, 4, and 5,where c is the recess, which is the same in 'feet of all sizes, and intowhich the end A of the arm fits.

The attachment of the toe part 0 to the supporting-arm may be variouslyeffected without departing from the arrangement just described, wherebythe inconveniences of a permanent supporting-arm, in conjunction withremovable toe and heel parts, are obviated. We prefer, however, to adoptthe following method:

The toe part 0, which includes the ankle and waist, is bored verticallyin a suitable position, and a metal tube a is inserted and secured inthe hole. (See Figs. 3, 4, and 5.) This tube 0, which extends someinches out of the wood and is slotted longitudinally in its upper part,fits and slides upon a guiderod (11*, placed in front of and formingpart of the extremity A of the metal supportingarm A of the machine. Thesaid tube is provided with two recesses or nicks 0 which engage with asuitably-arranged catch cl, which holds the toe part in one of the twopositions as indicated by drawn and dotted lines in Fig. 2, in themanner well understood in treeing-machines; or the catch cl maybereleased and the tree withdrawn, for substituting another of diiferentsize and shape, in the usual way. This mode of securing the toe part ofthe tree is convenient for manufacture and gives a secure andsatisfactory attachment for the parts.

It will be seen that the foot of the tree, being divided only in oneplace, and that far back near the heel, the division occurs within theheel-stiffening of the boot, and consequently no unevenness of surfaceis caused when the boot is being treed.

What we claim is In a treeing-machine for boots and shoes, thecombination of a removable toe part having a metal-tube socket therein,-a supportingarm incased within a recess in the said removable toe partand a guide-rod forming part of said supporting-arm and receiving uponit the said metal-tube socket, substantially as herein described.

HARRY WV. MOBBS. ALFRED LEXVIS. lVitn esses:

ALBERT E. PHIPPs, A. M. TROUP.

